Vesper

We are now only up over Citeh via more goals scored. Even on everything else before it. Games played, points, wins, losses, draws, goal difference

We were dire shit at the end of his tenure. He has been poor at Bayern, despite the addition of Kane. Hard pass.

Actually it IS the point of that particular reply.

thankfully you are not in charge

Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to be out again for a few weeks after he was rushed back by Liverpool and aggravated his current injury. He will miss the Carabao Cup final vs Chelsea as a result.

absolute shit now has been for ages I never want to hear his name brought up again in terms of being a Chels manager again

Nice article. 👍

Fichajes is proably the worst source for football news on the planet. They literally make hundreds, likely thousands, of things up just to get eyeballs. Horrific rumourmongers. I honestly do not know how it is legal to do what they do, as their lies have impacts at some levels in some situations, especially in Spain.

Pep rates him highly he 21, HG, 1.95m, pretty athletic with decent pace, good on the ball, and a left footer who can also play on the right

his injury record scares me atm

Malo Gusto form should help Chelsea avoid repeat of Reece James woe https://theathletic.com/5271727/2024/02/13/malo-gusto-reece-james-Chelsea/ This time, there should be no need for Chelsea to rush captain Reece James back from injury. The desperation to have James, one of the best right-backs in the world, on the pitch has led Chelsea to make mistakes in the way they have handled him in the past. It is never easy to get the balance right when assessing the best time to recall a key player following a spell out through injury. Despite all the data and medical advances, there is no crystal ball. Luck, certainly bad as far as James has been concerned, does come into it. Yet because James offers so much on the pitch, providing balance and leadership, he has come back too early at times. The best example of this was last season. After injuring his knee against AC Milan in October, he suffered the same problem again during his comeback match against Bournemouth two months later when he surprisingly started rather than being given a gentle introduction as a late substitute. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it proved to be too much too soon. He ended up missing another five weeks, returned to the side for two months, then got injured again. It has been a similarly exasperating story for James this season. He has made just nine appearances, during which he has not once completed 90 minutes, due to hamstring injuries. In December, he had an operation on his right leg, with the specialist who did the procedure expecting him to be out for three or four months. Aside from the responsibility James would feel as a key player for Chelsea and their captain, there is also the slim hope of making the England squad for the European Championship in the summer on his mind. But Chelsea can afford to be patient to ensure James gets back to feeling 100 per cent right physically and mentally. Why? The form of Malo Gusto. No one would say Gusto is as good as James in the right wing-back role — at least, not yet. However, the biggest compliment you could pay the France international is that he is limiting how much the 24-year-old is being missed. Gusto is in his first full season at Stamford Bridge having been signed from Lyon for £26.3million ($33.4m), plus add-ons, in January last year and spending the second half of last season back on loan at the Ligue 1 club. You could argue that he is second only to Cole Palmer in terms of the best buys the owners have made since they took over in May 2022. Gusto turns 21 in May and is beginning to look like a bargain. His display in the 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Monday was the perfect demonstration of this. When Chelsea laboured during a very poor first half, he was one of the few bright spots due to the width he added to Chelsea’s attack. It was Gusto’s fine cross, one of 11 he delivered on the night, that set up Conor Gallagher for Chelsea’s equaliser just after half-time. He had a remarkable 132 touches in the game and a 92.6 per cent pass completion rate from 94 passes. Another sign of his influence was that 50 per cent of Chelsea’s attacks came down the right flank. To put that in perspective, only 30 per cent of their attacks came on the opposite side where the more experienced left-back Ben Chilwell was operating. Gusto has six assists in all competitions, a fine return. The inch-perfect cross he provided for Nicolas Jackson in the 3-1 FA Cup victory at Aston Villa last week was worthy of James himself. Inevitably for one so young and new to English football, Gusto will make mistakes and have games where he is not at his best. His display in the 4-2 loss at home to Wolves this month, where he conceded a penalty for a rash tackle on Matheus Cunha, was an example. Still, Mauricio Pochettino is delighted with his contribution, even if he understandably still laments James’ absence. When asked by The Athletic whether the speed of Gusto’s development is negating the need to accelerate the captain’s return, he replied: “When we assess Malo Gusto, we brought him in to try to compete with Reece James. He’s really, really young, but now with the injury of Reece James, he needs to play a lot and compete every single game. “We can see some good things and things he needs to improve because he is so young and in the first season in the Premier League, but yes, we are so happy. He is going to improve.” Gusto will need some protection from the intense workload himself. Pochettino revealed he had to be substituted in the 84th minute at Selhurst Park due to fatigue rather than an injury. Backup is available, albeit none of them are ideal for various reasons. There is Axel Disasi, but he normally plays at centre-back. The same could be said for fit-again Trevoh Chalobah, while academy graduate Alfie Gilchrist, 20, is only just getting his first minutes as a senior player, so is very raw. But Gusto is now a trusted member of the starting line-up and will continue to feature regularly for the rest of the season. That should also mean James will not have to take any risks. His competition with Gusto can wait until he is good and ready.

Is Conor Gallagher really ‘priceless’ to Chelsea and is he forcing their hand? https://theathletic.com/5274206/2024/02/15/conor-gallagher-Chelsea-contract/ As a non-native English speaker, Mauricio Pochettino can sometimes struggle to find the correct word to convey exactly what he means. His press conference after Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday was not one of those times. “He’s a player with great commitment to the team, always trying to compensate in every situation, in offensive and defensive situations,” the Argentinian said when asked how important Conor Gallagher has become to Chelsea, before adding a memorable flourish. “That is priceless, to have a player like him.” Priceless. Of all the adjectives to bestow praise, Pochettino’s choice of the one that evoked the concept of monetary value for Gallagher (intentionally pointed or not) stuck in the mind. Because for more than a year, Gallagher has been regarded as anything but priceless by Chelsea’s owners and lead football decision-makers. It is common knowledge across the Premier League that £50million ($62.7m) would be enough to get him. An indication from Everton that they were willing to pay £45million in late January 2023 sparked a serious conversation that only ended when Gallagher made it clear he had no interest in joining a team who were fighting relegation. West Ham United had a £40m bid rejected last summer and Tottenham Hotspur were serious suitors in the final weeks of August, but their valuation was significantly lower than Chelsea’s. The winter window then came and went without any movement either in his market or on his contract, which will have 12 months left to run at the end of this season. Dialogue between the 24-year-old’s representatives and Chelsea’s co-sporting director Paul Winstanley remains open and cordial. There is none of the bitterness that hung like a dark cloud over fellow academy-graduate midfielder Mason Mount’s final months at the club last season and, as long as that continues to be the case, there is a significant chance an agreement is reached for Gallagher to extend his contract. But there is also no movement towards that outcome, and no new offer on the table for him to consider. The reality is Gallagher’s vast improvement this season has been an unexpected development for Chelsea, who were not planning for him to become a key cog in their midfield when they committed more than £300million in transfer fees across the two trading windows of 2023 to recruiting Enzo Fernandez, Andrey Santos, Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu to play there. Lavia’s almost complete unavailability since signing from Southampton (on the bench twice, playing once for 32 minutes) in the first week of the season has worked in Gallagher’s favour, and he has gone on to make himself indispensable to new head coach Pochettino, ranking behind only Axel Disasi in the squad for minutes played in 2023-24 across all competitions. He has also delivered an emphatic riposte to critics who argued his skill set was not suited to possession football, attempting a career-high 61.1 passes per 90 minutes in the Premier League with an 88.9 per cent completion rate. Chelsea have had plenty of bad days with Gallagher on the pitch — no one can escape criticism with the club 10th in the Premier League table after 24 games — but arguably their worst performance of the season was the only one he missed, due to a suspension: the 2-1 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford in December that was far more one-sided than the scoreline suggests, and in which Fernandez and Caicedo were entirely overrun at the base of midfield. GO DEEPER How Sepp Blatter's 6+5 rule would have changed the look of football's elite clubs Pochettino has weaponised Gallagher’s outstanding talent for winning the ball back in his Chelsea pressing system, deploying him ahead of Fernandez and Caicedo without the ball to harry opponents close to their own penalty area. According to data website fbref.com, an average of 0.45 tackles in his team’s attacking third per 90 minutes puts him in the 91st percentile (the best-performing nine per cent) among midfielders in Europe’s top-five domestic leagues, the Champions League and Europa League over the past 365 days. Beyond tactics, Chelsea’s head coach has done everything in his power to publicly emphasise how highly he rates Gallagher as a player and as a person: praising him at every opportunity, picking him whenever fit and even handing him the captain’s armband for a significant stretch of this campaign when Reece James and Ben Chilwell were injured. The future, as Pochettino admitted in that press conference after beating Palace, “is a matter for him and the club”. It is in the hands of co-sporting directors Winstanley and Laurence Stewart and, ultimately, Clearlake Capital co-founder Behdad Eghbali and the club’s co-owner Todd Boehly. Gallagher wants what he has always wanted: a long and successful career at Chelsea, his boyhood club. He also, not unreasonably, wants to feel wanted. Chelsea’s decision to slow-play Gallagher’s contract situation stands in stark contrast to the urgency with which fellow academy graduates James, Armando Broja and Levi Colwill were tied down to new long-term deals in the past 18 months, and all the signs are it has weakened their position. GO DEEPER Malo Gusto form should help Chelsea avoid repeat of Reece James woe Gallagher is playing by far the best football of his career. He has significantly improved almost every aspect of his game, and three goals in Chelsea’s past two matches — both wins — suggest he might finally be rediscovering the scoring touch he demonstrated during formative loan spells at Charlton Athletic and Palace. Barring injury, he is almost certain to be included in England manager Gareth Southgate’s European Championship squad this summer. That will naturally be reflected in his salary expectations for any new contract. Renewing him on vastly increased wages may be unpalatable to Chelsea, but the alternative is not much more appealing. The ticking clock on his deal will make it difficult to realise a £50million asking price unless there’s a bidding war, and that dynamic looks unlikely given Gallagher’s preference will have the power to dictate the process. In recent windows, potential suitors have detected a degree of wariness from Chelsea to sell Gallagher to Spurs, Newcastle United or any other club they consider direct Premier League rivals — a stance that seems illogical if the fundamental talent evaluation is that he is simply not good enough to be a long-term starter at Stamford Bridge. It is also a position that will be entirely impossible to maintain come the summer, when the choice becomes binary: renew or cash in. Beneath all this is a nagging sense that football judgement will not be the sole factor determining who Chelsea sell in the next window. Despite the insistence from club officials that compliance with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) is not as big a concern as has been made out, the informed consensus among those from the outside is that significant funds must be raised before June 30 to avoid breaching the allowable loss limit. It is hard not to view Chelsea’s unsubtle, unsuccessful attempt to drum up a market for buying Broja in January (he ended up being loaned to Fulham for the rest of the season) through this prism, and the same could be said for the inclusion of a £35million release clause in the new contract Ian Maatsen signed last month before his half-season loan move to Germany’s Borussia Dortmund. Pure profit from selling a Cobham graduate or two would be the easiest way to climb out of any PSR hole, and Gallagher has established himself as their most saleable homegrown product. Gallagher’s positive development deserves more than to be talked about in such cold financial terms, but the tenor of the discussion is set until his future is resolved one way or another. The only positive for Pochettino is that if the first seven months of the season are anything to go by, the price hanging over his head will not affect his priceless form. GO DEEPER Who are the worst offenders for dissent in the Premier League?

Chelsea’s Reece James returns to light training following hamstring surgery https://theathletic.com/5278217/2024/02/15/reece-james-Chelsea-injury-training/ Chelsea captain Reece James has returned to light training after undergoing hamstring surgery in December. The England international is hopeful of being back in full training in less than a month and is targeting being involved in Chelsea’s season run-in, although the club will be wary about rushing him back to action too soon. James, 24, has been out of action since being withdrawn 27 minutes into Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat at Everton on December 10. James has suffered from injury problems in recent seasons and the current layoff is the second period of absence for the wing-back this campaign. The Chelsea youth graduate had previously struggled with a hamstring problem earlier this season. He was substituted off in the second half of the opening-day Premier League draw against Liverpool with an injury and missed nine matches, before returning in October. James was not involved in the England squad at the 2022 World Cup due to a knee injury and then suffered a recurrence of the problem in his first game back for Chelsea against Bournemouth on December 27 2022. The wing-back then missed the final month of the 2022-23 campaign due to a hamstring injury, limiting him to just 16 Premier League appearances that term. Malo Gusto arrived at Stamford Bridge last summer after a transfer agreement was struck with Lyon in January 2023 with the France international featuring 17 times in the right-back role for Chelsea in the Premier League this season. Chelsea, 10th in the Premier League, return to action against Manchester City on Saturday.

Sonia Bompastor, the single-minded manager Chelsea want to replace Emma Hayes https://theathletic.com/5277883/2024/02/16/sonia-bompastor-Chelsea-lyon-profile/ Life works in mysterious ways sometimes. In 2010, Emma Hayes took on a football consultant role at Washington Freedom, a team in the Women’s Professional Soccer championship in the United States, having been sacked by Chicago Red Stars. The squad she helped coach included Homare Sawa, Abby Wambach and a certain France international called Sonia Bompastor, who was named WPS All-Star player of the year in 2009 and 2010. Bompastor, the Lyon head coach, is Chelsea’s chosen candidate to succeed Hayes, who will leave at the end of the season to manage the U.S. women’s national team (USWNT), and the club are negotiating a deal to appoint her. Bompastor, who is of Portuguese descent and speaks English, is under contract until 2025, as is her long-term assistant Camille Abily. So who is Bompastor and why have Chelsea made her an offer? “Wow! What a brilliant player, honestly an unbelievable left-back with an unbelievable wand of a left boot,” recalled Hayes, speaking before Chelsea’s Champions League quarter-final with Lyon in March last year. “A cultured and brilliant footballer, very quiet, cheeky, funny — the media might not always see that about her. It’s of no surprise to me that her and Camille have done well working together.” As a manager, Bompastor has been described by one French agent as “strict” and “hard”. She wants things done well and knows what she wants, characteristics reminiscent of her playing career. Bompastor’s experience for club and country — she earned 156 caps for France and captained Lyon to Champions League titles in 2011 and 2012 — has served her well in her managerial career. She is no stranger to the pressures at the highest level, is fully aware of the nature of this results-driven business and knows exactly what will be expected at Chelsea. The club spoke to a handful of senior players to get a sense of the most important qualities they wanted from an incoming manager. While there is a natural preference for female coaches within the women’s game, that did not rule out a male coach getting the job and the sense from the players was that appointing a winner was the most important thing. Given the dearth of female managers at the elite level of the game, there are not many obvious candidates. Ultimately, Chelsea want someone who will bring them success. On the surface, you can understand why they have made Bompastor their preferred option to replace Hayes. The 43-year-old is a title-winning manager, including the trophy that eludes them, the Champions League, defeating Barcelona 3-1 in 2022. Bompastor, who played alongside commanding characters herself, also knows how to manage big personalities such as Lindsey Horan, Ada Hegerberg and Wendie Renard. There are obvious parallels to be drawn with Chelsea’s squad, which includes two of Bompastor’s previous players, Kadeisha Buchanan and Catarina Macario. Having retired in 2013 — her penultimate game was at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League final — Bompastor became Lyon women’s academy director. There she built a reputation for nourishing young talent and, after eight years, she took over as manager of Lyon’s first team in April 2021 following Jean-Luc Vasseur’s dismissal. At the time, Lyon wanted to integrate young players such as Selma Bacha into the senior team, which consisted of a star-studded squad of internationals from France and elsewhere, players of the calibre of Renard, Hegerberg, Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood. Bacha, 23, has spent her whole career at Lyon and has progressed through the ranks. Equally, Bompastor has been a key part of 20-year-old Alice Sombath’s development. Although Bompastor has never been scared to trust younger players, there is an argument that some have not maximised their potential at Lyon. Given the age profile of Chelsea’s new signings, one of the next manager’s strengths should be someone who can develop players in first-team environments. It is hard to tell how good a manager Bompastor is, however, because she inherited a squad that had dominated Europe for so long. Perhaps more than at any other major club, the players make the team at Lyon. For a long time, the team relied heavily on stars who were at the top of their game but they have had very few standout managers. Lyon won two league and Champions League titles during Reynald Pedros’ reign from 2017 to 2019 but, despite that record, he did not really generate a reputation as one of the game’s elite managers. Similarly, Bompastor’s predecessor Vasseur won the treble with Lyon in 2020 but was sacked by Everton after just 10 games in charge. Managers who have gone on to pastures new have not covered themselves in glory elsewhere, a sign of how large a role the squad has played in Lyon’s success. The impression in France is that Bompastor’s record is mixed because Lyon are no longer the juggernauts they once were, crushing European opponents, even if they are still winning all the same. That is not necessarily down to Bompastor — other teams have invested and closed the gap. When Bompastor took on the role in 2021, she spoke of wanting to find the “Lyon DNA”, alluding to the fact they had somewhat lost their identity. It is difficult to say whether she has rediscovered that DNA today. There have been occasional criticisms of playing style and there is a sense by some who watch Lyon that she has not stamped her own identity on the team. By comparison, Paris FC manager Sandrine Soubeyrand has succeeded in instilling a playing identity with a recognisable system over six years. Hayes’ shoes are huge ones to fill. When asked on Thursday about the possibility of Bompastor replacing her, she evaded the question, doubtless conscious that no agreement has been signed yet. If a deal is reached, Chelsea will undoubtedly be getting someone with a winning record. The question will be whether that translates to success away from Lyon.

Which Premier League teams are on course to play in Europe in 2024-25? https://theathletic.com/5275133/2024/02/16/premier-league-europe-champions/ A glance at the Premier League table can be a near-useless activity during the early months of a season, but now it’s time to whip out the magnifying glass. Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have started to pull away from the rest, meaning the race for the top four seemingly has just one more seat to fill. However, there still could be two Champions League spots up for grabs this year, with the Premier League in contention to gain an extra qualification place following the competition’s expansion from a 32- to a 36-team format from next season. Simply, this would be more likely to happen if the English clubs progress as far as possible in the three European competitions this season, with City, Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa all bidding to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. The permutations are complex (and further outlined in the link below), but the point remains — there are plenty of European spots still up for grabs when factoring in the three UEFA tournaments. GO DEEPER Is the Premier League still on track for five Champions League spots? So, who is most likely to finish in those lucrative places? Let’s run the numbers… Opta’s predicted league table makes a projection of the final standings by forecasting the outcome of each team’s remaining fixtures, based on the strength of the respective sides, before simulating the league season thousands of times to calculate an average of their potential finishes. The varying performances of sides pushing for European spots can make such an undertaking… well, hard to predict, but Opta’s model suggests that things look most likely to stay as they are in the Premier League table — a trend that The Athletic previously analysed earlier in the season. GO DEEPER The 2023-24 Premier League table is unlikely to change dramatically - here are the numbers that prove it With Tottenham Hotspur likely to hold their fourth position ahead of Villa, who are predicted to retain fifth, the only predicted change in the current formation is Brighton rising from ninth to eighth, leapfrogging a West Ham side surely short of confidence after their recent 6-0 home demolition at the hands of Arsenal. So much can change between now and the end of the season, so it’s worth looking at which of the aspiring teams have the trickiest fixtures coming up — bucketed into easy, medium and hard levels of difficulty depending on the strength of the opposition, using Opta Power Rankings. Spurs do have a buffer on the chasing pack (given fifth could be enough for Champions League qualification and they are six points clear of sixth-placed Manchester United and have a far superior goal difference), but a tricky few weeks starting in the middle of April sees Ange Postecoglou’s side face Newcastle United, City, Arsenal and Liverpool in consecutive games. Meanwhile, Newcastle have a chance to put the pressure on Manchester United, currently one place and five points above them, with a favourable fixture list that includes a trip to Old Trafford towards the end of April (which will be postponed if either or both advance from the FA Cup’s last 16 to play in its semi-finals that same weekend). Let’s look at the clubs in the mix for Europe… snip Chelsea Current position: 10th Predicted position: 10th For Chelsea, this season feels like an exercise in taking the positives where you can. Here’s one: their 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Monday made it 11 points earned from the 15 times they have been in losing positions this season — better than the whole of last season’s eight points from the 20 times where they went behind. Sure, we can talk about Chelsea’s profligacy in front of goal, and how often they have spurned chances with some wasteful finishing from Nicolas Jackson, Raheem Sterling and their other forwards. But the issues lie further back down the pitch, with Chelsea seemingly unable to make the most of promising opportunities in the first place. Before we think about chance conversion, we need to think about the runs that are not made, the passes that are not executed, and the shots that are not taken. Looking across multiple seasons, Chelsea are trending downwards in the share of possession sequences that end in a shot. They have some good build-up play, but have often been blunt at the top end. The next few weeks are an opportunity to take further positives in a transitional season under first-year head coach Mauricio Pochettino, with games against Manchester City, Spurs, Newcastle and Arsenal in the next five. Opta’s model gives Chelsea an outside chance of pushing for a final position between sixth and eighth, but the likelihood is that another mid-table finish is on the cards.

Why Cole Palmer returns to Man City as Chelsea’s most potent attacking force https://theathletic.com/5277740/2024/02/16/Chelsea-cole-palmer-analysis/ One of the most positive lessons Chelsea have learned about their young squad this season is that nothing fazes Cole Palmer, and it is difficult to imagine that changing even in the face of the cocktail of emotions he will feel returning to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Palmer is seven months into his Chelsea career. Those seven months have yielded more senior professional minutes across all competitions (2,200) than he garnered over the previous four seasons (1,503) on the first-team fringes at City. Along the way, he has become one of head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s most important players, the club’s designated penalty taker and, more often than not, the brain of the team in the final third. Palmer’s impact has been so consistent that his presence in the starting XI has never been up for debate: 10 goals and six assists in 20 Premier League appearances while being utilised as a right winger, a No 10, a false No 9 and, on occasion, even as a No 8. Barring injury, it is not a matter of if he starts against City — only where. “I prefer him on the pitch at the moment!” Pochettino joked when asked about the 21-year-old’s best position. The Athletic takes a closer look at what makes Palmer such a potent attacking force… He rarely makes a bad decision Chelsea have specialised in finding a startling array of ways to snuff out promising transition attacks in recent years. Palmer is a breath of fresh air in that regard, not because he finds solutions that no one else can but because when the ball is at his feet he can be relied upon to consistently identify the best option and execute it. On Monday night, from the moment Moises Caicedo released him from a Crystal Palace corner kick in added time at Selhurst Park, Chelsea always looked likely to end up with a great shooting chance. Christopher Nkunku makes a smart diagonal run from left to right ahead of the ball to drag the two remaining defenders with him, but Palmer keeps an eye on Enzo Fernandez’s support run and adjusts his own speed to bring the Argentine into play. He then waits for the perfect moment to slip the ball through to the open man in the box, and Chelsea have their third goal… Palmer created a similar chance a few minutes earlier, initially darting into the penalty area when it looked as if Nkunku had broken through, then retracing his steps to gather a cutback, ignoring the more obvious pass to an overlapping Malo Gusto and instead wrong-footing multiple Palace defenders with a sharp ball into the feet of an unmarked Raheem Sterling… Here are two similar examples from different matches. Against Palace, Nkunku is calling for the ball in the box, but Palmer correctly assesses that the path to Conor Gallagher just outside the box is less obscured and he has the space to shoot — and ultimately score… But in the 4-1 win over Burnley, the circumstances were slightly different: while Gallagher is unmarked in an almost identical position, Palmer recognises that he has the room to slip a pass between two defenders into the feet of Nicolas Jackson in the middle of the box… This ability to pick the smartest play available, coupled with Palmer’s talent for pulling off more incisive passes, makes him a threat anywhere in the final third if he has time on the ball. Here against Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup, he has two simple options left and right to Caicedo and Noni Madueke respectively, but spots a chance to clip the ball over the visiting defence for Axel Disasi. His pinpoint delivery gives the centre-back a wide-open shot… Palmer is the best attacking decision-maker Pochettino has, so it is unsurprising that he leads the entire Chelsea squad with nine assists across all competitions this season. He picks the right moments to become a No 10 Pochettino affords Palmer considerable freedom within his Chelsea system. The 21-year-old starts on the right flank mostly, and plays most of his progressive passes from there… Wide on the right is also where Palmer gets most of his touches when Chelsea are in possession, as you can see in the graphic below… But it is not where he does the bulk of his shot creation. Palmer regularly drifts infield when Chelsea have the ball, finding pockets of space between the opposition lines to receive passes on the half-turn and thread a quick ball through to one of his attacking teammates. This sequence below, against Middlesbrough, is fairly typical: Thiago Silva has the ball and Palmer, facing his centre-back, is being screened by three opponents, but recognises there is space to his right. He moves into it, so Silva whips a pass into his feet. As another defender is drawn out to confront Palmer, he slips the ball past him to generate a good shooting chance for Fernandez… A similar movement from Palmer was decisive in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the same competition in September. As shown below, he starts running as Caicedo shapes to pass the ball to Ian Maatsen, correctly anticipating that a defender will be drawn out of the space he is moving into. Maatsen finds him and with two deft touches, he sucks in and then nutmegs Jan Paul van Hecke, giving Jackson a golden chance to score the only goal of the game… Palmer is averaging 4.5 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, according to Fbref.com. That ranks 18th in the division, putting him between Dejan Kulusevski and Luis Diaz. That ranking improves to 11th when only live-ball passes (so excluding set pieces) that lead to a shot attempt are considered. Those numbers suggest this aspect of Palmer’s game is very good rather than truly elite, though his age is also important to consider. All of the players who rank above him in both categories are older except for one: Jeremy Doku, the man whose arrival at City last summer crystallised Palmer’s need to leave in search of first-team football. He is a menace off the ball Anyone who has watched Palmer regularly for Chelsea this season will have been struck by how often opposition defenders and goalkeepers seem to just pass him the ball. This has very little to do with luck and a lot to do with how smart and relentlessly active he is at all times. Palmer is a supremely diligent and intelligent presser, arcing his runs and positioning his body to cut off an opponent’s preferred passing options. It is a big part of the reason why Pochettino is so comfortable deploying him as a No 9, particularly as it allows him to work in devilish tandem with fellow pressing monster Gallagher to harass opposition defenders into mistakes. But even when Palmer is not the one applying the primary pressure to an opponent, he constantly adjusts his body position to be poised to intercept any hurried pass that comes his way. Below, against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, he moves early to his left before Clement Lenglet has even released the ball, and is rewarded with a one-on-one shooting chance against Emi Martinez… Here in the first leg of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough, Palmer scans to his right before Jonny Howson even turns on the ball, commits to the interception as the opposing captain commits to the pass, and generates another golden opportunity out of nothing… Palmer’s off-ball intelligence also makes him a dangerous runner when Chelsea are in possession. Against Wolves, he begins his run behind Toti Gomes before Gallagher’s lay-off has even reached Caicedo. Going this early generates a crucial advantage over the defender. Caicedo’s pass is pinpoint and so is Palmer’s first-time finish… Similarly against Luton Town, Palmer starts his run the precise moment he realises that Jackson has managed to spin his opponent near the halfway line, and this speed of thought continues when he is through on goal: rolling the ball nonchalantly under his foot to round the goalkeeper, then calmly finishing in a crowd of scrambling defenders. There are many attackers — even some very successful ones — who do their work in bursts of activity on the pitch. Palmer is so dangerous because he never switches off. Palmer’s spectacular start to life at Chelsea has not prompted any anguished reflection at City on the decision to sell him last summer, either in public or in private. Nothing he has done in a blue shirt has shaken the belief that he would likely still have been no more than a support player at City, playing far fewer minutes than would satisfy him. Such is the current gulf between the two clubs, City do not need to be proven wrong for Palmer to be considered one of Chelsea’s best players and a foundational star for this vast investment project overseen by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. The bar to achieve stardom is simply much lower at Stamford Bridge than it is at the Etihad Stadium — at least for now. But that does not mean Palmer cannot continue to grow into a player that City regret losing. He does not turn 22 until May and already does many things that impact winning at Premier League level. He already carries himself with an unshakeable composure and the kind of self-assurance — epitomised by five converted penalties from five attempts this season, several under huge pressure — that suggests he believes no stage is too big for him. Pochettino has been suitably impressed to compare Palmer to a Champions League and World Cup winner in an interview with TNT Sport last month. “In the position that he plays, and because he’s a left-footer and because he has some similarities and the quality, he’s a potential Angel Di Maria,” Chelsea’s head coach said. Palmer will likely need to produce his best for Chelsea to have any chance of derailing a rampant City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Everything he has shown at his new club so far indicates he will relish the challenge.

Why is Man City’s FFP case taking so long to solve?

Real Madrid signed Kepa Arrizabalaga to be their No 1 – now he’s lost his place https://theathletic.com/5278190/2024/02/16/real-madrid-arrizabalaga-lunin-Chelsea/ Who is Real Madrid’s first-choice goalkeeper? A month ago, we asked that very question in an article on the club’s choice between Andriy Lunin and Kepa Arrizabalaga. Now, the answer seems clear. Lunin is leading the way. This represents quite a turnaround from the situation in the summer, when Arrizabalaga was brought in on loan from Chelsea — right after Madrid’s long-time goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was ruled out for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury — to be Carlo Ancelotti’s number one for the remainder of the campaign. On the day of his presentation as a Madrid player on August 15, Arrizabalaga was glowing, super-happy and having turned down an offer from serial German champions Bayern Munich to take up the opportunity in his native Spain. When he was asked whether his goal was to convince Madrid to decide to keep him beyond his loan spell, he replied: “I hope so. Today is the first day, we’ll see, but hopefully with my performance I can make that happen.” Six months on, that possibility is looking remote. When Courtois was ruled out on August 10, two days before Madrid’s first La Liga match of the season, some voices at the club believed it was Lunin’s time because it would be complicated to bring in another top-level goalkeeper. But Madrid moved quickly — very quickly — to get Arrizabalaga on board. Lunin started the first two league games, but the Chelsea loanee took over as soon as he’d had a chance to settle in. GO DEEPER Kepa's loan to Real Madrid: How they beat Bayern to the Chelsea goalkeeper “Kepa’s level is very high,” Ancelotti said at the time. “Lunin lacks a bit of experience. They won’t rotate much.” Starting with his Madrid debut on August 25, Arrizabalaga played 13 games in a row: 10 in La Liga and three in the Champions League, conceding 10 goals and keeping six clean sheets. He made some good saves, including an important stop in the October 28 Clasico in Barcelona, where Madrid came from behind to win 2-1. Other performances had perhaps not fully convinced, such as October’s away games against Sevilla in La Liga and Napoli in the Champions League, but the coaching staff were happy with him. Kepa and his family were happy too, and his wife even posted a photo in which she seemed to say goodbye to London for good, five years after his move to Chelsea from Athletic Bilbao. But then Arrizabalaga was injured in the warm-up before the home Champions League match against Sporting Braga on November 8. Coaching staff sources — who, like all those cited here preferred to speak anonymously to protect their position — describe it as the “turning point” that saw the balance changed between the two goalkeepers. Lunin came into the team and saved a crucial penalty that night when what became a 3-0 Madrid win was still goalless. Despite barely having warmed up, he seized his moment and reignited the debate over who should be the club’s starter. Then Arrizabalaga ended up being out for longer than the two-match absence that was initially expected. He eventually missed four games either side of the November international break, as Ancelotti continued to insist publicly that he was first-choice. “If he is ready, Kepa will play,” he said on November 27. But when the Basque was back fit a few days later, he found himself on the bench not the pitch. GO DEEPER Brahim Diaz stars for Real Madrid in Jude Bellingham's place - not for the first time Just before Christmas, Ancelotti said, “I don’t have the idea of rotating goalkeepers. Both are doing well. Lunin has progressed a lot and has shown a lot of confidence and Kepa has maintained his level… in the second part of the season, I will choose one of the two.” Since suffering that injury before the Braga match three months ago, however, Arrizabalaga has played just five times — once in the Champions League, twice in La Liga, once in the Copa del Rey (against fourth-tier Arandina) and most recently in the Supercopa de Espana. That last appearance, in the January 10 semi-final against neighbours Atletico, might perhaps be seen as another turning point. Madrid were 5-3 winners after extra time but Arrizabalaga faced some criticism for his role in the goals conceded, and Lunin was preferred for the final against Barcelona four days later, where Madrid triumphed 4-1. In the next league match the following weekend, Ancelotti turned back to Arrizabalaga, but again he looked far from his best as Almeria raced into a 2-0 half-time lead in the Bernabeu, with a third goal ruled out by the VAR, before Madrid eventually came back to win 3-2, thanks to a few more controversial refereeing decisions. Lunin, who turned 25 this week, has been selected to start the five matches since. Ancelotti has not wanted to publicly clarify who his preferred goalkeeper is, but Arrizabalaga was a spectator from the dugout again as his Ukraine international team-mate performed to his very best in Tuesday’s 1-0 victory away to RB Leipzig in the first leg of a Champions League last 16 tie. “Kepa’s injury opened up the possibility of Lunin challenging for his place, and he has won the game. Lunin has convinced with his play,” say coaching staff sources, who see the process as something natural and simple. Sources in the dressing room say the 29-year-old loanee is close with Lunin, describing him as “an exemplary team-mate, as if he were the one who was playing every game”. When Arrizabalaga found himself in a similar situation at Chelsea, in the 2022-23 season, Edouard Mendy was the starter ahead of him and similar things were said of his disposition. Arrizabalaga’s Chelsea contract expires at the end of next season. This summer might be the best chance for the London club to seek a sale, but as previously reported by The Athletic, Madrid signing him then is highly unlikely given Chelsea would ask for around €20million (£17.1m; $21.5m) — a figure the La Liga side would not pay for a backup goalkeeper. Lunin now looks established as Ancelotti’s pick, although Arrizabalaga could well return to the starting XI and further impress before the season is out if an opportunity arises. In the meantime, he has continued training, convinced that he is ready to play and be a starter, although those close to him are no longer sure that he will remain in Madrid. GO DEEPER Kylian Mbappe to leave PSG at end of season

Netherlands international Quincy Promes sentenced to six years in prison for drug trafficking https://theathletic.com/5274822/2024/02/14/quincy-promes-netherlands-drug-trafficking/ Spartak Moscow forward Quincy Promes has been sentenced in his absence to six years in prison by a Dutch court for his involvement in smuggling 1,350kgs of cocaine. The 32-year-old was accused of being involved in the smuggling of two shipments of cocaine into the Belgian port of Antwerp via the Cap San Nicolas container vessel in January 2020. The first batch was hidden in sacks of salt and involved 650 blocks of cocaine. The second batch had a logo of a tiger stamped on it and weighed in at 712kgs after being intercepted by Belgian police. Prosecutors had initially sought a nine-year jail sentence, but the court ruled that their request had relied on previous cases with harsh punishments. “The suspect is regularly in the news, is active on social media and has fans worldwide,” judge M. Vaandrager said. “Not only his sporting achievements, but also the wealth he flaunts, make him an example for many and – as the court assumes – especially for young people. ”This makes it even more objectionable that the suspect tries to increase his wealth (and possibly also prestige in certain circles) through involvement in large international drug transports.” GO DEEPER The curious case of Quincy Promes and how Amsterdam's underworld preys on footballers Promes did not attend the hearing that took place on January 24, instead remaining in Russia to continue playing for Spartak. He had been charged in May 2023 by the Dutch prosecution office for his involvement and denied the allegations. The former Ajax and Sevilla winger, who has also been capped 50 times by the Netherlands, has also previously been found guilty in his absence and sentenced to 18 months in prison for stabbing his cousin at a family party. In 2019, Promes made the move from Dutch giants Ajax to Spanish club Sevilla. He left Amsterdam in 2021 to join Spartak for a second spell, having played for the club between 2014 and 2018. Promes has played 21 times across all competitions for Spartak this season, scoring eight goals and assisting the same amount. His Spartak contract expires in June 2024. GO DEEPER The Dutch footballer with a prison sentence and a drug trafficking charge - who is still playing

lol, it is something that actually happened, lol she had to re-submit it as her prof said it was shite, lol

Lol, looks like something wifey slapped together at 5am in the morning for basic advert/logo design class after being out all night in some dodgy after-hours Shoreditch techno club with me back in our London uni days in the mid 2010s

Ugh Experience Head of Football Operations Swansea City Football Club Jun 2022 - Present 1 yr 9 mos Huddersfield Town Football Club 6 yrs 5 mos Head Of Recruitment Jul 2018 - Jun 2022 4 yrs Chief Scout Feb 2016 - Jul 2018 2 yrs 6 mos U16 - U21 Full Time Scout Southampton Football Club Aug 2015 - Feb 2016 7 mos Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club 2 yrs 2 mos National Scout (Full time) Jul 2014 - Aug 2015 1 yr 2 mos Scout (Part time) Jan 2014 - Jul 2014 7 mos Scout (Voluntary) Jul 2013 - Jan 2014 7 mos United Kingdom Youth Team Player Wrexham Football Club Jul 2008 - Jun 2010 2 yrs

mine is deffo